Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter took so long, everyone. I've been working on it for a while now, but I'm still not completely satisfied with it. Despite that however, I didn't want to waste any more time keeping you all waiting, so I'm posting the chapter finally. Hopefully it turned out okay, and hopefully my future chapters will be even better. Please review if you feel like it. Hope you guys all have a great week :)
Chapter 3
Debt Enclosed
It was a starry night out, and most of the Maximals were in recharge. Dinobot had just been relieved of duty by Rhinox and was currently stalking the halls of the Axalon before turning in just to make sure there were no threats he missed. Living among Megatron and his fellow Predacons had taught Dinobot to never let his guard down lest he find himself on the wrong end of a projectile weapon.
As Dinobot turned the corner where the crew quarters were, he suddenly heard an audial-piercing scream! He knew it was a feminine scream, and it was coming from the right side of the hallway. Bitten's room.
Dinobot charged into the room to fight off whatever was harming Bitten, only to find the kangaroo femme was still in recharge even as she continued to scream. Apparently she was having a nightmare. Dinobot walked over to the berth and began to shake Bitten in an attempt to wake her.
"Hey! Online! You're going to wake up the whole ship!" Dinobot snarled as he shook her by the shoulders.
Bitten's yellow optics burst open and she saw that a threatening looking mech with jagged teeth and red optics was right in her face plate. She wasn't fully awake yet and feared that she was being attacked.
Bitten screamed at Dinobot, but this wasn't a normal scream. This was her sonic attack, and Dinobot was forced to release Bitten when his entire frame convulsed and became paralyzed. He sparked on the ground, barely conscious, and Bitten finally awakened enough to remember where she was and who Dinobot was.
"Oh no..." Bitten softly warbled as she took in the sight of her not-attacker.
Bitten, fearing she might've killed him, picked up Dinobot and rushed him to the CR chamber. It wasn't an easy feat for her since Dinobot was very heavy and she only had one servo, but she managed to carry him down the hall, onto the bridge, and into the CR chamber. She sat beside the chamber and clenched her fist in worry. She had been dreaming she was being attacked by an orphan gang back in Altihex, and never meant to harm one of her rescuers.
She knew she would have to find some way to make this up to him.
A few hours later Rattrap was strolling down the hall toward where the food stores were kept. He was in the mood for some cheese whiz and moldy bread, and thought that early morning would be a good time. After all, he didn't feel like waiting in line behind all the other jerks that would just hog all the food anyway.
As he entered the room he saw that he wasn't alone. Bitten was already up and appeared to be crushing something with a mallet. Considering the food stores consisted of dehydrated slop and tube food, Rattrap was both confused and nervous by her actions.
"Hey uh, Bitten. Whatcha up to?" Rattrap asked; trying to sound casual but still kind of freaked out by the mostly silent femme, "It's um, a beautiful day to, uh, hit stuff with hammers, am I right?"
"I am tenderizing a steak," Bitten explained; surprising Rattrap since she rarely spoke to anyone.
"Oh? Where'd you get a steak?" Rattrap asked; his hunger and curiosity overriding his caution.
"I found a dead saber tooth tiger," Bitten replied without inflection, "I am making breakfast for...what was his name? Oh yes, Dinobot."
"You're makin' food for Lizard Lips?" Rattrap asked derisively, "Why?"
"I owe him," Bitten replied as if that explained everything.
"Oh. So...can I have some?" Rattrap asked hopefully.
Bitten did not reply. She merely stopped tenderizing the meat and started spicing. Rattrap, feeling dissed, harrumphed as he walked past her to get his cheese whiz. If Bitten felt insulted by this, she never showed any indication of it.
After Rattrap left Bitten finished spicing the steak and then added a glass of water to the tray before heading for Dinobot's quarters. It was still strange to her that Cybertronians had developed beyond the need for energon. If someone had told her that someday Cybertronians would become beings of pure energy, even that would've been more plausible than this. She suspected the Insecticons were the ones that invented this type of organic matter absorbing frame. She made a note to herself to ask someone later.
When she knocked on the door using her handless paw it took a few moments before Dinobot answered. He had spent all night in the CR chamber, and apparently wasn't too happy about it if the scowl he gave Bitten upon seeing her was any indication. He was in Dino-mode, so his discontent made him look even more threatening than usual. Bitten entered the room uninvited and placed the tray with the raw steak and water on his bedside table.
"What is the meaning of this?" Dinobot asked in confusion.
"I owe you," Bitten replied stoically, "I apologize for nearly killing you while I was in recharge. I will repay you."
"Where did you get a steak?" Dinobot asked as he sniffed the offered food.
"A dead saber tooth tiger," Bitten replied as she had replied to Rattrap, "Do you need anything else?"
"No," Dinobot replied, "Also, you have good reflexes. If an intruder had been in my quarters I would have attempted to kill them as well."
"That makes no difference," Bitten stated, "I still owe you, and I will repay you."
"This wasn't the repayment?" Dinobot asked; a little annoyed that she wasn't leaving.
"No, this is only the beginning," Bitten replied, and Dinobot began to understand this wasn't so much a reward as a punishment, "I will stay by your side and make your life easier until my debt to you has been repaid."
Bitten then left the room, but Dinobot could still hear her soft intakes from outside his door. He groaned longsufferingly at his plight. First they get stuck with an ancient Autobot, then she nearly kills him, and now she was going to follow him around like a lost puppy! This just wasn't fair!
The next few days were very tiresome for Dinobot. He tried with every fiber of his being to convince Bitten that her debt was repaid and she could leave him alone now, but all that did was cause her to restate that she still owed him and to continue doing everything for him. She would prepare his meals, clean his quarters, check the perimeter before he entered a room, and stand close to him all day. He was starting to feel smothered and a little uncomfortable with how much she did for him.
Rattrap of course was jealous. He didn't see why Dinobot got such preferential treatment when Rattrap Tigatron and Airazor were the ones that saved the femme's life. Also she gave that stinking lizard free food! If it was one thing Rattrap hated more than Dinobot getting all the attention, it was being passed over for free food.
"How did you do it?" Rattrap finally asked Dinobot while they were on monitor duty together, "How did you get that femme to make you steak and clean your berth? I can't even get a femme's comm digits without buyin' dinner first, but you don't have to do anythin'! What's your secret?"
"I nearly died," Dinobot growled lowly, "Frankly you're the lucky one, rodent. Bitten is always lurking around. I wouldn't be surprised if she's listening to us right now. She is always in my way, and...and...she won't stop staring at me!"
"Dinobutt, I hate to break your little bubble of self-importance, but she stares at everybody," Rattrap replied with a smirk.
"I know, and it's irritating!" Dinobot shouted in exasperation, "How do I convince her that her debt is repaid? What will it take to get her to leave me alone!?"
"I could buy your debt," Rattrap suggested impishly, "Then you get your privacy back and I get free steak. I just hope she'll cook mine. I may be an animal, but I still have standards."
Dinobot just scowled at Rattrap, who continued to look at him with an amused expression. The moment was interrupted by the predictable entrance of Bitten on the elevator.
"Dinobot," Bitten called out in a soft tone of voice, "Optimus Primal sent me to find you. He says it is time to patrol the parameter. I will go with you."
"That isn't necessary, or welcomed," Dinobot snarled as he stood up and transformed into beast mode.
"I am going with you," Bitten repeated with finality as she transformed into kangaroo mode.
Dinobot sulked while trying not to look like he was sulking, and Rattrap snickered with his servo over his mouth as the two of them retreated.
"Have fun with your stalker, Dino-breath!" Rattrap called out just before the elevator went down, and the last thing he saw was Dinobot's middle digit held high in the air like a proclamation.
They had been walking for two hours around Maximal territory. Dinobot and Bitten had not spoken to each other the entire time, which seemed to suit them both just fine. Dinobot didn't want to be in Bitten's company, and Bitten didn't seem to enjoy intelligent conversation anyway.
They came to a cliff that overlooked a river, and they started walking along it together. There was room to walk, but at the same time the dizzying height was still visible. Dinobot went on for about a minute before he realized that Bitten had not followed him. He turned around and saw that she was staring down at the river below. He huffed out a sigh and trudged back over to where she was.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights," Dinobot snapped when he got close enough to her.
She didn't acknowledge him, but rather just kept looking down below them. Dinobot was getting tired of this. She wouldn't speak, she wouldn't move, and he couldn't complete his patrol without her because the inexperienced femme might get herself killed out in the wilderness alone.
"Bitten, get moving! That is an order!" Dinobot barked at her.
Finally she turned to look up at him, and then placidly replied with "Yes, Dinobot."
They continued to walk for a few more minutes in silence. Dinobot was still feeling short with her but at the same time he realized that she wasn't really doing anything wrong. Part of him wanted to apologize, but an even bigger part of him wished she would apologize to him for wasting his time. Finally the silence was starting to be too much for Dinobot, so he decided to try to talk to her.
"Bitten, why did you stop by the river?" Dinobot asked for lack of anything better to say.
"The sun hitting the water makes it sparkle," Bitten replied, and Dinobot rolled his optics at her, "Do you get to see this every day?"
"Of course I do!" Dinobot snapped, "It's water! Everybody on planet earth has seen water! Even people on other planets are aware of the concept of water! It's not special!"
"Then you haven't actually seen it," Bitten contested, "If you stopped, and if you looked, you would see a light show that the brightest city on Cybertron cannot compete with. Earth is a strange planet, but beautiful in its own way. You walk by here every day, yet you've never seen it. That's kind of sad, really."
"I think that's the most you've ever said to me," Dinobot commented, "You sound a lot like Rhinox. He's into this whole nature nonsense as well."
"I think he was based off of Hound," Bitten remarked as she ran her servo over the cliff rocks as she walked.
"No, he's not a hound, he's a rhino," Dinobot corrected her, not knowing what she meant.
"You are not a Maximal, are you?" Bitten asked point blank, "You do not look like a Maximal, because you are a reptile. What are you?"
"I was sparked a Predacon," Dinobot declared with pride, "I come from a long line of conquerors dating all the way back to the Decepticons. You know, we never learned of your allegiance. Which side were you from? Which side were your parents from? I assure you that whatever your answer I will keep it in confidence."
"No," Bitten replied bluntly, "I already owe you. If you kept one of my secrets, then I might never get out of your debt."
Just as Dinobot was about to reply, he heard a whining noise in the air and reflexively pushed himself and Bitten out of the way before a Predacon missile exploded where they had been standing! He growled and looked above them to see Waspinator and Terrorsaur flying overhead.
"Predacons!" Dinobot spat angrily, "Bitten, it's time to see if you can fight. Dinobot, Maximize!"
"Bitten, Maximize," Bitten intoned in a much softer voice than Dinobot used.
"Maximalz are going down!" Waspinator declared, "Wazzpinator, Terrorize!"
"Rawk! Terrorsaur, Terrorize!" Terrorsaur squawked as he shifted into his robot mode.
With those words the battle began in earnest. Waspinator shot with his laser pistol and Terrorsaur shot at them with a new missile launcher that Tarantulas had built for the occasion. Dinobot returned fire with his green optic lasers, but Bitten just stood there for a moment mesmerized by the spectacle. It wasn't that she was afraid, but something about one of the Predacons caught her off guard.
That wasp... Bitten thought ruefully. That is Q-Boom's offspring. She drew that design when she was a sparkling. Wait, that means she survived. She survived long enough to have a sparkling that became a Predacon. I wonder how that happened...
"Bitten!" Dinobot bellowed; jolting her out of her reverie, "Stop standing there like a rock and attack!"
Bitten didn't want to attack the Predacons now that she knew the Sigma Sisters were likely aligned with them, but she owed Dinobot for what she did to him. Steeling herself and hoping she aimed well, she let out a screech attack in Terrorsaur's direction but made sure to not hit Waspinator.
The attack did its job and Terrorsaur was instantly knocked out and fell to the ground. Waspinator flew down and grabbed him while Dinobot continued trying to shoot him out of the sky. The Predacons retreated into the distance, and Dinobot and Bitten transformed back into their animal modes.
"Your timing is terrible," Dinobot grumbled.
"I apologize," Bitten replied without explanation.
"Your power is quite useful," Dinobot begrudgingly commended, "Your aim was off though. If you had attacked his processor he would be dead now. You will need training if you are to become an efficient Predacon destroyer."
"You want them destroyed?" Bitten asked in confusion, "But they are the same as you."
"No, these Predacons follow Megatron," Dinobot growled in disgust, "A true Predacon knows the meaning of honor. Besides, Megatron failed us and sent us to the wrong planet. He does not deserve to call himself a leader. Primal may have a strange method to his command, but he is at least worthy of my respect."
Bitten nodded and followed Dinobot back to base without another word. She didn't understand this Maximal, or Predacon, or whatever he was. Then again, how could she judge him, when she had also abandoned the faction of her birth in favor of those she cared about? Whatever his reasons, Bitten still decided to trust him for the moment. If he betrayed her however, she would never allow him close to her again.
